Catherine:Everybody
has rhythm, it’s in your body. If your heart’s beating, you have rhythm.
Your breathing has a rhythm, and you don’t even have to think about it. We
even walk and talk in rhythm. And that’s just a few examples in the body. In
fact, the whole Universe is made up of rhythms, from the cycles of the seasons
right down to the vibration of the smallest particles. Everything that’s alive
has rhythm, and rhythm is a sign of aliveness. But most of us have lost touch
with this. In this technological age that we live in, most of us have become
disconnected with the natural rhythms of nature – e.g. we live with artificial
lighting; also, we’re constantly bombarded with artificial rhythms from cell
phones, TV’s, etc. Drumming can help to you to regain a sense of connection
with nature and its rhythms. It’s also a wonderful way of expressing our
aliveness, because rhythm is life.

It’s
also easy, and within a few minutes you can learn a rhythm and be making music
together. There aren’t any fiddly notes to pick out, like learning the piano
or guitar, you can’t play a wrong note, because it’s mostly just rhythm. You
just have to hit the thing!

Drumming
brings people together.

The
wonderful thing about drumming is that it doesn’t matter who you are, where
you come from, or what language you speak, because when we drum together,
we’re all speaking the same language, the language of rhythm, which is our
mother tongue. Drumming accesses a part of ourselves that allows us to connect
at a very deep level, where our differences become irrelevant, and this can be
healing on many levels.

It’s
also a very easy way to socialise, even for shy people. Drumming in a group
creates a wonderful sense of togetherness, and is like having a conversation
where everyone is sharing equally, so you can’t feel “left out”, and
there’s no pressure on anybody to “perform”. Many people come to my drum
circles on their own, you don’t need a partner to come!

It's
also great exercise - you can work up quite a sweat, apart from building up some
great arm muscles!

Drumming’s
great for stress relief because it’s instantly relaxing and de-stressing, and
at the same time energising. It takes you into another space very quickly – I
call it a “power holiday”. In fact, research has shown that after playing a
rhythm at a constant, steady pace, your brain waves go into an “alpha”
state, which is the state of relaxation, after about 10 minutes. And from there,
you’re most likely to enter the “theta” state (also known as a
“trance” state), which is a deeply meditative state, and very difficult to
achieve unless you’re a long-term meditator. It’s the twilight zone between
being awake and asleep, where you’re receptive to information beyond your
normal conscious awareness.

The
process by which this happens is called “rhythmic entrainment” – which is
the tendency of people and objects to synchronise to a dominant rhythm. So if
you swing two pendulums in opposite directions, they’ll eventually be swinging
in the same direction. The same thing happens when people drum together –
their brainwaves start to synchronise with the rhythm, and they have a shared
brain wave state.